October Roundup
Celebrations, self-improvement and fun things in the pipeline
Hoo boy, is it just me or did this month fly by? I was clear into Thursday before fully realising the calendar had flipped pages. I guess after the time-dialating adventure of trans-Pacific travel last month, the weekends one by one got away from me.
I know this is technically November, but how about that election? I made a promise to myself I wouldn’t watch the returns during work on Wednesday afternoon, but I took a peek over on Bluesky and they seemed to be in a pretty good mood. Absolutely unbelievable performance across the board. I have lived and voted in Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina and Texas, and they all flipped blue. I’m completely astonished. I’m also completely grateful for the hard work that went into the blue tsunami — thousands of volunteers knocking on doors, talking face-to-face, convincing their neighbors to get out and choose candidates who aren’t hellbent on ripping all the copper wiring out of the walls. God I’m glad The Onion was wrong.
But let’s get back to October for now.
A big month for milestones
Marc had his birthday shortly after he came back from PAX Aus in Melbourne. While he was away, I scouted out a few things I wanted to gift him, but I knew he’d appreciate the opportunity to pick out exactly what he wanted in person. We did some after-work shopping in the city and came home with a marble-run kit, which sends large bearings careening down a mad science-themed track in a self-contained box. I have a feeling Santa will be bringing another kit so they can be hooked up together.
A few weeks later, the two of us celebrated our 3-year anniversary! Truthfully, we both almost missed it; we’ve been so under the gun with last-minute work projects that we both collectively decided that the $20 rump steak lunch special we enjoyed the day before counted. On the weekend we took a long, romantic walk to the hardware store and bought a fire extinguisher, a new mop head, some long-reach dusters and a new filter for the central air system. Married life, ladies and gentlemen! We did have a genuinely good time spending the afternoon together, and ultimately that’s what counts.
Learning new things
I had a chance to attend (virtually) George Penney’s workshop on the philosophy and mechanics behind her Tiny Moments of Joy series. The Nelson, New Zealand-based author posts daily bite-sized observations of small town life with all of its natural beauty and bustling residents, and the workshop covered her approach to seeking out whimsy and the ethics of people-watching. I subscribe to her Patreon to get these joyful "Spotted" vignettes in my inbox daily; it's a good reminder to slow down and observe what's around you, because there's a whole world out there full of wonder. I highly recommend checking her out.
The future is games (and music)
We are mere days away from the release [UPDATE: As of this writing, I’m up to the Forest Temple] of the remake of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, and I don’t know about you but I’m pinging off the walls about it. We picked up a limited edition Zelda 40th Anniversary Switch 2 console, and this is likely to keep me couch-bound for the foreseeable future. OoT is one of my all-time favourite video games; it’s the game that made me realise I play video games because I like them, not because I had a younger brother who played them. And when I say I know this game, I mean I’ve been playing the randomizer version of it for half a decade. I know the location of every gold skulltula, grotto, pot, crate, beehive and tuft of grass. Early verdict: It’s a faithful recreation of the N64 classic made with the Breath of the Wild engine, and where it does deviate from the original, it does for wonderful reasons.
In addition to the game release, Nintendo is also presenting a Legend of Zelda 40th Anniversary Concert world tour. We scored some truly perfect dress circle-level tickets for a performance in Melbourne in May 2027, and Marc figured hey, as long as we’re getting some culture in our lives, why don’t we throw in a pair of tickets to The Lion King musical, which will be passing through Melbourne at the same time. May sounds like a very long time away, but if the speed of October is any indication, it’ll be here before we know it.
Good reads (and watches)
- Coyote vs. Acme was impressive, entertaining and packed with a lot of heart, and I’m so glad it actually made it to theatres instead of being buried in the Warner Bros/Discovery/Skydance vaults as a tax writeoff. And what a swansong performance for voice actor Eric Bauza, who had admirably filled Mel Blanc’s shoes until his untimely death earlier this month at the age of 46. The man truly had a deep understanding of his characters, and I find I can’t stop watching this clip of him reading Liam Niessen’s Taken monologue in the voice of Porky Pig.
- A few months ago, Austin Kleon shared this history of what may be hands down the most popular Looney Tunes cartoon, What’s Opera Doc? Nobody at the time knew they were working on an instant classic – they just had a good idea and ran with it, and the history goes into some of the design decisions, particularly the backgrounds and lighting effects.
Animation Obsessive Staff
Good meme(s)
Vintage Internet
Internet users broadly fall into two categories: those who inherently believe everything they read online is real, and those who inherently believe everything they read online is bullshit. The latter tend to delight in yanking the former’s chain, doubly so if you can get a little generational conflict in the mix. Thanksgiving is coming up in America. Let’s travel back to 2018 to see how everyone’s Boomer parents responded to the text “How long does it take to microwave a 25lb turkey?”
